02 Oct 2018 08:26:58
I think artificial pitches should be banned in the Scottish premier league and championship. They have no place in senior football. The SFA should release some of their greedy coffers and help teams install proper turf pitches with undersoil heating. Surely a government or FIFA grant might be available. Not making excuses, but plastic pitches are a great leveller. celtic lost to Kilmarnock recently on one of these pitches too and Hibs lost to Livingston. If weather is the concern, have a proper winter break in January and February and extend the season into June.

DOIGER

1.) 02 Oct 201802 Oct 2018 09:06:16
There are too many problems with plastic pitches.
Increased injury risk - older players end up with knee and back problems. Murphy out for season.
Influences team selection.
The ball sticks and bounces randomly.
You can't slide tackle unless you want a skin graph.

If livingston finish top 6 this season i can see other teams getting rid of grass and installing plastic because its becoming a weapon.

2.) 02 Oct 201802 Oct 2018 09:28:20
I don’t think the pitch was the problem on Sunday however I do agree that there is no place for them in the Premiership. There is an advantage to these teams and the more success they have the more teams will opt for them, we cannot let them become the norm.

3.) 02 Oct 201802 Oct 2018 09:56:48
It will take a strong SFA to come out and condem them from next season but won't happen. I think we have 4 teams out of 12 using plastic pitches. 1 in every 3 teams not a great way to raise the profile of the league.

4.) 02 Oct 201802 Oct 2018 09:56:59
Don't want to jump on pitch bandwagon as its the same for both teams. Only thing could be an issue is age or use of the pitches. I think they have to be changed every 10 to 12 years on usage and can only be used for football/ rugby or football/ hockey but not all sports. Don't know if they are being used for solely football or not? Would be interesting to know if the SFA are keeping track of the usage?

5.) 02 Oct 201802 Oct 2018 10:25:42
Doiger that's exactly what I was going to say. Allow a team to apply for funding to improve/ install grass only pitches.
I heard a representative from SFA was asked to take pictures of pitch at livingston at half time. don't know if its true or for what reason. I personally would hate to play on that type of pitch.
The game is meant to be played on grass. Unless like MSL everyone does it, but I'am sure there pitches are far far better than any artificial pitches we have.
Its a grass sport let's play it on grass. I mean how can Hearts let there grass grow a couple of mm in height if its artificial?

6.) 02 Oct 201802 Oct 2018 11:02:49
I remember playing on one of the first artificial pitches in my native Dundee back in the 1970s and it was horrible. Difficult to control the ball, can't go into full-blooded tackles, certainly not of the sliding variety. Get rid!

7.) 02 Oct 201802 Oct 2018 11:46:06
Yeah I remember Annfield, stirling albions old ground. Remember no one wore shorts and coach told us no slide tackles as you got burnt. Obviously its not like that now though.

12.) 02 Oct 201802 Oct 2018 16:41:43
While I don’t think the surface was THE reason for our performance on Sunday, I do believe it was a contributing factor in one or two players performances. Namely Ejaria. Every time he tried to turn a player he lost his footing. Players were slipping about all day. Remember when Barasic got in behind fullback and chose wrong pass to Lafferty? Lafferty slipped then too.

The Livi surface in doesn’t not suit the so called flair players. Killie is slightly better but still not great.

13.) 02 Oct 201802 Oct 2018 17:36:46
Goalie, believe it or not, decent red blaize had better properties for playing on than astroturf, but people shouted it down in favour of the 'new technology' without really understanding it or giving it proper thought.

16.) 03 Oct 201803 Oct 2018 07:32:28
I agree the pitch was nothing to do with us getting beat, we were shocking on the day. What I will say is people are saying "Well it's the same for both teams" it's not at all, every team in the league with a grass pitch will play on plastic 8 Times this season, the 4 teams with plastic pitches will play on plastic 25 Times this season. While it definitely wasn't the reason for our defeat, these teams have a clear advantage in that they are playing on their plastic pitch once a fortnight so it really is not the same for both teams.